Poo Poo Point

March 4, 2012

We did our first hike of the season today, given warmish weather with sun breaks. At upper 40's in Seattle, we figured it was too warm for a nice day of snow play, so decided to go for a low elevation hike. We walked up to Poo poo point, on Tiger Mountain, one of the Issaquah Alps (i.e. Cascades foothills). It's a popular spot for paragliding, and we've hiked it several times. This kids and I had only hiked up to the lower launch site, but this time we decided to go all the way to the top! Silas hiked up for close to an hour before deciding to ride in the pack - a great first hike for him. Maeve walked the whole way, and as this is a 3+ mi hike with good elevation gain, it was a good first hike of the season for her. She had Ralph, the class stuffed animal, with her this weekend, and after Mike carried up both Silas and Ralph, Maeve posed for pictures with Ralph at the top.

Silas also did a bit of walking on the first and last parts down - where the trail was muddy and fun. He likes having branches to sweep the trail.

There was one paraglider who had landed and was folding up his wing at the bottom. Often we see up to a dozen folks humping their wings up the trail (most take a shuttle up). Today we only saw a couple and were told it was too windy for good ride. We didn't see any gliding down.

Cross-Country Skiing

Week of Feb 20-24, 2012


This week was winter break in Seattle Schools, so we headed to Mazama in the Methow valley of the Cascades for cross-country skiing. Mike and I hadn't been skiing since before Maeve was born, and most of our winter outings have been snow play with a little snowshoeing. But we decided it was time to get the kids on skis.

The Methow valley has an enormous trail system, and we skied several days in different areas around Mazama and a couple days up at Sun Mountain.

It was unbelievably beautiful. It was sunny most days, a little warm so there was some melting, but basically conditions were great.

Both Maeve and Silas learned to ski. Maeve for real — she took a lesson and by the end of day one was gliding, could snowplow and herringbone ("mugwump"). Later in the week we practiced a little sidestepping. She's not a big fan of "pizza," i.e. snowplow, and continued to prefer to fling herself down to a stop if she got going too fast. The technical names for ski positions are thanks to her great instructor. Maeve took a class the first day, and along with having played on the skis on our den floor, this gave her a lot more confidence and skiing skills.

We rented a house outside Mazama center that had a 1k track nearby, which we skiied on in the afternoons after nap. Every morning we went to a different area with green (easy) trails, of which there are many, especially in the valley floor. It's perfect for kids who are learning, and once they're older we'll be able to do much longer runs — but there are tons of less than 3k green runs that can end up at a warming shelter, with potty breaks, and snacks thanks to the parent's backpacks, which really helps keep the little ones going.

Silas did some shuffling along on his skis, too, but generally preferred to be in the backpack.

We also did some snow play and resting, sometimes trailside and sometimes off trail. There were horses and chickens at the house next to the apartment we rented, and the kids visited them daily.

The last photo was of a green run up at Sun Mountain our last day, when Maeve was getting quite good in the tracks.

Play on snow and no snow

Last weekend we went sledding at Snoqualmie Pass, and stayed long enough to catch a ranger-guided snowshoe hike.  Maeve did very well, finishing the whole hike.  The picture is at about the 3/4 mark.

To help Maeve and Silas get into the fun of skiing, we let them wear their brand-new cross-country skis around the living room.  This will not be a regular occurrence, and of course we don't let them wear shoes inside the house!  Now they are eager to hit the trails.

Linen closet

Here is the closet where we store our towels, sheets, and pillowcases.  Naturally, we call it our Lenin Closet (or our Lennon Closet).

Seattle Snow

January 19, 2012

The first photo is of the UW's Suzallo library. Mike walked into work today and took this shot on his way home. You can make out one guy on cross country skis just to the right of the main entrance.

We had a number of skiiers as well as tons of walkers though our neighborhood. Our street, although a neighborhood arterial, has not been plowed and is snow-covered, with minimal traffic. The kids will end up being out of school for 3.5 days. Frustrating, when our lives are local and we can all walk to work or school, but much of Seattle is very hilly and treacherous. We worked on digging out our drive and sidewalk for the 3rd time today, but Silas wasn't very patient so we ended up going around the block on our sled a couple times. A very good workout for Mom! Silas also took a brief turn pulling Maeve.

Mt. Rainier sunrise

On my bicycle commute to work, I get views of the Cascade Mountains, the Olympic Mountains, Mt. Rainier, and the Seattle downtown skyline.  The last two weeks have been unusually beautiful, with colorful sunrises and sunsets rewarding my ride.  Here is a cell phone photo taken from the 45th Street bridge over Interstate 5, which doesn't come close to doing justice to the view.

Maeve Howell, theater critic

Maeve was quoted today on the UW Computer Science & Engineering News Blog.  There is also a picture of Mike in the article.

Thanksgiving running

November 24, 2011
Thanksgiving 2011.

2010 Turkey Trot

Last year, we helped with registration at the Turkey Trot, a 5K benefiting the Ballard Food Bank. Maeve had a great time stamping registrants' hands after they paid. That year, Seattle had an uncharacteristic Thanksgiving snowfall.

This year, for Thanksgiving we decided to run it! We parked at Golden Gardens Park on Puget Sound and climbed up the cliff. All that elevation to lose during the run! Maeve ran/walked the whole thing, with Silas in the jogging stroller/Mike's arms most of the way, and we finished in 55 minutes. We played a bit at the park and, despite a foreboding forecast, it started to rain only as we got in the car - perfect timing. It was a really lovely morning, and then we went home and had tortellini and cauliflower for Thanksgiving dinner (per Maeve's request, and also very popular with Silas). I forgot my camera so the photo is in our side yard (great view of the artichoke and winter cover crop coming up in our garden) once we got home.

In early October, just 6 weeks after she first rode a 2-wheel bicycle unassisted, Maeve biked 12 miles as part of the Shine On Seattle fundraiser for green energy. Most of it was very flat on the Burke-Gilman Trail. Silas rode on the back of Mike's bike, as usual.

It's snowing up in the mountains so the plan is to go up for some snow play tomorrow.